NATION IN BRIEF : VIRGINIA : LaRouche’s Fraud Conviction Upheld

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., upheld the tax and mail fraud conspiracy convictions of political extremist Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. and six of his associates. The case stemmed from more than $30 million in loans raised by LaRouche’s political supporters. In a unanimous ruling, the panel rejected claims of procedural flaws in the trial of LaRouche, who ran for President in 1980 and 1984. LaRouche’s appeal was argued by former Atty. Gen. Ramsey Clark, who contended that LaRouche and his followers did not have time to prepare an adequate defense, that the jury was impaneled too hastily and that LaRouche was unfairly tried with the other defendants.